it's not the same without you

Hearing the pain in Haiku's words as he told her just what he was doing here brought Bowen's copper ears flattening against her skull. She never wanted him to be sad. He was too good. Haiku was a light in the darkness. Willing herself to get over her own bodily urges, Bowen moved back through the water towards the dire brute and pressed her forehead against his. "I'm sorry for worrying you. Honestly... I didn't know if I'd ever make it back either. Bowen was dead for a long time." She hadn't even heard the name between the time she was stolen and the time her mother first called out to her upon her return.

Haiku seemed surprised at her offer, but asked if she was sure. "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have asked." With one slender paw, she hooked it around one of Haiku's mighty, tree trunk legs. "Come home with me, Hero. Be my guest for a while." The pleading look in her eyes made it evident that she wasn't ready to give him up just yet. She had an affliction, but she had missed him so much. Just a few days together would reassure her that all of this was real. That she was really back and that she really had her friend again.

"Speech"